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Following Eric Garner's death, City Council to hold hearing on NYPD training

city council eric garner rally.jpg

City Council members, including Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Public Safety Chair Vanessa Gibson, both at center, attend a protest calling for justice after the death of Eric Garner in police custody. Mark-Viverito and Gibson announced the Council will hold an oversight hearing next month on the NYPD's plan to enhance officer training after Garner's death.
(William Alatriste for the New York City Council)

"The New York City Police Department is embarking on an ambitious program to re-train all 35,000 officers so this hearing will be a critical way to openly discuss their methodology and procedures," City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-East Harlem) said in a statement Wednesday announcing the oversight hearing.

Garner died July 17 after an NYPD officer put him in a chokehold during an attempted arrest in Tompkinsville. A week later, Police Commissioner William Bratton announced a full review of NYPD training, initially focusing on the use of force.

"Each and every day we depend on thousands of uniformed officers to keep our streets and communities safe, and many New Yorkers are deeply concerned that we have seen encounters with police cost unarmed civilians their lives," Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson (D-Bronx), chair of the Public Safety Committee, said in a statement.

Ms. Gibson said the Public Safety Committee "will leave no stone unturned" when examining the enhanced training program.